A New Beginning
by PHO3NIXFIRE
Summary: Continuation of Living The Dream, this follows Amy through her adventures while helping Moga Village. MHTri content, Rated M for graphic violence in later chapters. R&R.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Monster Hunter, Capcom does. I'm making no money from this.

**A/N.** Continues from the end of Chapter IX of Living The Dream.

_The village was covered in a warm orange glow, the vast amount of candles keeping the village light, even though darkness crept in around them. Each of the villagers held a candle too, and soon the entire village was walking along the path out of the village. The procession stopped at a large, dark cave. Through the crowd Amy could see the back wall, bathing in the glow from the candles, the wall was completely covered in various helmets and weapons, each with a name carved into a small wooden plaque beneath it. To the side of the cave, up on a small ledge that ran the width of the cave, was a small wooden structure. It looked like a tall table, but it had a ramp that lead out of Amy's view._

_The Village Chief walked through the throng of people, creating a gangway, and then stepped up onto the small ledge at the end of the cave. Aaron and Laura then walked slowly down the path, followed by a Guild maid who sprinkled the path with a thin layer of petals before taking her place at the front of the crowd. Aaron and Laura had reached the Chief by now, and faced the entrance to the cave. Six members of the guild, dressed in shining silver armour walked slowly into the cave, preceded by the Guild Manager. The six men bore upon their shoulders a long, thick box, the flag of Dondruma draped over it, and behind them, three more Guild members walked, two bearing the flag of Dondruma, the other bearing the flag of Minegarde._

_Tears silently rolled down Amy's cheeks as the procession walked down the path, her mind wandered back to the first time she and Shiroha had met. He had appeared out of nowhere, answering Pokke's cry for help. Amy had never met a Hunter with the experience Shiroha had, his assistance in their first hunt together was incredibly useful, and his knowledge of monsters had saved her life. It was obvious he had hunted many monsters, yet, he didn't seem to be in it for the same reasons as most Hunters. Another wave of sadness washed over her as she realised she didn't really know him at all._

_An eerie silence had fallen over the cave; the only sound was the clanking of the Guild members' steel armour as they walked towards the rear of the cave. No sounds from outside could be heard, and a light snow had begun falling from an unseen gap in the roof of the cave, and was being gently blown about by an unfelt breeze that found its way into the cave._

_It seemed like even time itself was slowing down for this, as the procession was only halfway down the path. Amy noticed everyone in the cave had raised their hands into a salute and the young Huntress followed suit. The procession finally reached the ledge, and Shiroha's coffin was placed upon the wooden table, and the Village Chief spoke._

_"Today, we honour another Hunter who has fallen defending our small village. Shiroha had come from the city of Dondruma; he left everything he held dear behind to assist us. He lived with us, he fought for us, and he has died for us. May he be forever at peace, and forever in our hearts, as his spirit passes on, his memories remain with us. We will never forget him, and we let him rest here with the many others that have fallen to keep us safe."_

_With that, the Guild members pushed the coffin down the ramp, and the crowd stood for a moment in complete silence, before quietly filing out of the cave._

'That was three years ago', Amy thought as she shielded herself from a spray of sea water and gazed out over the massive expanse of water before her.

She had accomplished a lot more since then, she had moved to Dondruma, the capital of Minegarde. Over the years she had developed her skills as a Hunter, attending various lectures and practical sessions at the Training School headquarters. The Huntress dragged her mind from her thoughts again, and walked from the bow of the ship.

The huge ship crashed through the waves at a remarkable speed, cutting a path through the crystal waters, leaving a white trail in its wake. Above the boat a flock of birds flew in a v shaped formation, their squawks carrying faintly to the ship.

Amy walked up the stairs to the helm, where the captain was resting on the wheel, staring out over the waters ahead of him, occasionally shouting out an order at one of his crew.

"So, you're Moga's new Hunter?" The Captain asked, turning his head to Amy.

"Yeah, Amy," The Huntress replied, offering a hand.

The Captain shook it, "Serg," he said. "So, y' ever been to Moga?"

"No, I'd never even heard of it until the Guild told me I'd be coming here. Can you tell me anything about it?"

"Weird little village. Built above the sea, somethin' about the monsters around them got 'em spooked, or they didn' wanna disturb 'em or somethin', just be careful if y' have a few drinks, one time I fell in, spent about an 'our shouting me lungs out tryin' to get help, by the time I was out I was sober again." Serg giggled, reminiscing.

Amy gazed out over the sea, waiting for the elderly sailor to recover from his train of thoughts.

"So, what experience have you got, as a Hunter?" The Captain asked, stroking the stubble on his chin. "What's the biggest monster you've killed?"

"The biggest was probably a Diablos, my old team had to take two of them down," Amy replied.

"Ahh, Diablos, don' get too many of those down here, prefer the desert, y' see," Serg said. "y' should talk to Roy about the monsters around Moga, he used to be Hunter for Moga, but he broke his leg in four places, I'll let him tell y' the story, he does a better job of it than me. Hey Roy! This 'ere Hunter's gonna come an' have a chat wi' ya!"

A man who was checking ropes signalled back to the Captain and resumed his work.

"Yeah, go see Roy, he'll give y' some hunting stories y'll never forget."

"Thank you, sir," Amy replied politely.

The Huntress mad her way across the deck of the ship, trying her hardest not to get in the way of the crewmen as they went about their work. Roy was a tall man, standing around six foot seven inches, and had the look of a man who was once well toned, but after years of no exercise and heavy drinking, he had let himself go. He wore loose fitting brown trousers and no shirt, exposing numerous scars and burns, all faded slightly due to age. His skin was tanned and leathery, probably due to years of exposure to the sun aboard different vessels, and on top of his head his balding grey hair shone in the sunlight.

"Roy?" Amy asked.

"That be me name, love. Can I do for ya?" Roy asked.

"Well, The Captain says you have plenty of hunting stories."

"Aye, Cap'n says that, do he? True, true, I gots plenty, I'm guessin' ya wanna hear 'bout Moga though, aye?" the sailor asked in his thick accent.

"Well, I figured if I'm going to be protecting them, I might need to know what I'm up against." The woman answered.

"Aye, clever lass, ain' ya? I used to be jus' like ya, off on trips, sharp wits an' a sharper blade, I'm afraid the sun might'a gon' and fried all tha' outta me now though. Oh, an' the twen'y beers a nigh' I'm knockin' back," Roy laughed. "Now, 'bout Moga. Si' down, love," He gestured to a railing behind the Huntress, who leant against it and looked back at Roy, who was stroking his stubble covered face, deep in thought.

"Ah, got it," He said, his face lighting up, "one time, I was out huntin' wi' two others, some guy, an' a girl. Now this girl, real piece of work, she was, always fussin' 'bout somethin', never kept her head wi' her body. So, we were huntin', what was it, Qurupeco, that was it, an' we needed to stock up an' stuff firs', so we got some supplies, an' she starts cookin' up some meat for us. Anyway, we ain' payin' attention to her, an' she ain' payin' attention to nothin' but clouds an' fairies an' stuff, then we hears this weird squeal, we looks roun' and she's laid on the floor twitchin' and there's about five o' these giant bugs buzzin' aroun' her." Roy said through fits of laughter. "Anyways, we kills these bugs, an' she gets up, throwin' a strop about us not helpin' her and just laughing, so she storms off back to Moga and goes home. Las' I heard she opened a flower shop over in Yukumo village."

"What was it, Vespoids?" Amy asked.

"Nah, don' get them down 'ere. They're wha' we call Bnahabra, they similar to Vespoid, flyin' buzzin' little things-"

"So what kinds of monsters should I expect to be fighting then?" The Huntress interrupted.

"I guess you'll be fightin' stuff like Jaggi an' Jaggia to star' wi', then I dunno, stuff like Qurupeco, er, I know there's a load of Ludroth round here, they're always a problem."

"Ludroth? What are they?" The woman interrupted again.

"Ah, they're nasty lil' things. Basically, they be about a hundred an' fifty pound of scales an' teeth. If it's not a Ludroth an' its movin' or bleedin', it'll probably get eaten by 'em. Tell ya what, look out into the sea down here, they been chasin' us for a while now, probably hopin' we'll crash or somethin'," The sailor said, gesturing to the edge of the boat.

Amy looked into the sea, and sure enough, swimming alongside the boat, just under the waters surface was three creatures, each around three metres long, covered in scales, with ridges along their body and sharp protrusions along their forearms.

"They're Ludroth? They look pretty nasty," The Huntress said, stepping back.

"Aye, they are pretty nasty, not when you get a small group of 'em, like that, but when you gots like, seven of 'em, they're a righ' pain."

"So how does it work in Moga?" Amy asked, "Back in Pokke, we had the Village Chief, she let us know when we were needed. Does Moga have a Chief too, or some kind of leader that will let me know when I'm needed?"

"Aye, Moga has a Chief, but he's not really a hands on kinda guy wi' all the monsters," Roy answered, "looks out for the people, ya know, now all the monster stuff, that's all sorted by The Guild-"

"The Guild?" The Huntress asked, taken aback, "I thought Moga was really remote, even Pokke didn't have that much of a Guild presence."

"I don' really know that much about it meself, love," The sailor said, scratching his chin, "Go talk to Lyra, she represents The Guild, she'll probably be throwin' up somewhere, poor lass ain't built for the sea."

"Hey, Hunta," A voice called, over the bustle of the deck.

Amy looked around to see a large woman waving energetically at her, then gesturing to Amy to go to her. The Huntress looked at Roy, intending to politely say goodbye, but he had already resumed his job of checking the rigging of the ship. The young woman shrugged and moved over to the large woman.

The thin coating of sweat on her dark skin reflected the sun's light slightly, her thickly dreadlocked hair fell down her back, save for a few locks which fell in front of her face. She was wearing some of the strangest clothes Amy had ever seen, a top which seemed to be made from string and beads, and a dark green skirt covered with a bright orange pattern. Her appearance, to the Huntress, was almost tribal, which made Amy realised the world was a bigger place than she had imagined, and there were so many places to visit.

"Glad ya could join me, Hunta," the woman said cheerful, her voice was rather deep, and her accent complimented her tribal appearance.

"It would have been rude of me to decline such an energetic invitation," Amy replied, bowing her head slightly.

"Ya can drop all da posh, gal," The woman said, waving her hand, "Yukko ain' gon' bite ya fer no' bein' propa'."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yukko, was it?" Amy said, offering a hand. "My name is Amy."

"Come 'ere, gal," Yukko said, pulling Amy in for a tight hug. "None o' dis shakin' hands nonsense wi' Yukko."

"So, what can I do for you, Yukko?" Amy asked, breaking off the hug.

"Well, ye be Moga's new Hunta, aight?" the woman said, resting against the massive basket beside her, "I jus' wanted ta give ya a head's up about the food there, ya seen'? See, in da village, dey eat loads o' dis."

The large woman lifted the lid off the basket and placed her hand inside. When she withdrew it, she was holding a large, green fish, which was twitching slightly.

"Bein' a seaside town an' all, dey eat loads a fish, gal. Sure, dey go into da woods near da village every now an' den, get some Kelbi or sum'ting, but it usually be fish. You ok wi' fish, ain't ya, gal?" The woman started, speaking so fast and continuously that Amy couldn't get a word in, "You not one o' dese fruits dat only eat, well, fruit?"

"No, I'm fine with fish, thank you-" Amy started.

"Hey, get dem lines out dere, dey usually be Arrowana round here, mon!" Yukko yelled to a group of sailors who were untangling a huge net. "Sorry gal, gotta go, we get huge hauls 'round dis area."

"Well then I'd hate to be a bother," Amy said courteously. "Before I go, do you know where I can find Lyra?"

"Sure gal, she be down unda da decks, las' time I saw her," Yukko said quickly, "Poor gal neva' did like da seas, she wa' chuckin' up eva' since we left."

"Well, thank you, Yukko, and good luck with the fishing," Amy said, bowing her head slightly.

Yukko turned and walked towards her fisher companions, the Huntress watched as she slapped one on the head sharply, she chuckled to herself and headed towards the staircase which would lead her below the decks.

Below the deck was rather dark, light peeked in through cracks in the ceiling, illuminating the thick dust that filled the corridors, and scarcely placed torches added a flickering orange glow to the bowels of the ship. It didn't take the Huntress long to locate Lyra, the sound of coughing and retching, with the occasional curse echoed along the narrow hallways long before Amy could even see the Guild representative. After turning a corner, Amy saw the woman, doubled over a barrel, her hands on the rim bracing herself, every so often she would brush one of the brown bangs of hair out of her face.

"Excuse me?" Amy said, knocking on the doorframe lightly.

"Oh, er hi," The woman said, turning around sharply.

"Lyra, I presume?" The Huntress asked.

"Er, yeah, who's asking?" Lyra replied.

"I'm Amy, I'm a Hunter, I've been sent to Moga." Amy answered.

Lyra turned and brushed out the creases of her white blouse with her hands, and straightening her red waistcoat. Her face was slightly rounded, and her skin looked as if it had lost all of its colour, her lips were pale, her eyes slightly red. She never let go of the barrel, steadying herself with one hand whilst the other rested on her stomach, her eyes closed as she tried to mentally steady herself.

"What can I do for you, Amy?" Lyra asked, her voice was hoarse, as if she had a sore throat.

"I was just curious as to how the Guild managed to set up in Moga; I hear it's a very remote village, but that the Guild have a lot of presence there." Amy asked.

"Hmm…yes, we do, I suppose," She paused to try to control an urge to vomit, "Not really though, we just control any monster-related issues."

"Ah, I see," The Huntress said, "Out of curiosity, how did that happen? I mean, how did the Guild manage to set up somewhere so, out of the way? I was in Pokke before here, and the Guild presence there wasn't anywhere near as high up in the village's chain of command, all the Guild did was accommodate Hunters, but the Chief was the one telling us where to go and what needed to be done."

"I don't know the full history of it," Lyra paused again as she bent over the barrel, opening her mouth slightly. After a few seconds, she slowly turned to face Amy again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Amy, I'm in no fit state to be seen, never mind have a full conversation with someone, I'm sorry." Lyra said quickly, shooting over the barrel as a wave of vomit spewed into the bottom, splashing into what sounded like copious amounts of it already.

"Ah, I can see that, I apologise for my intrusion, and I look forward to working with the Guild." Amy said, excusing herself and making her way back to her quarters.

Her quarters were small and cramped, a small bed was tucked away in a corner, and a trunk containing her belongings was set against the wall below the porthole. Her sword, 'Divine Slasher,' was in a corner, shining darkly in the dim light. Amy fell backwards onto the bed, with the intention of sleeping the rest of the trip away, when she noticed the voices above her begin to get louder and more urgent. She turned her head to the side and closed her eyes, trying her hardest to focus on what was happening on the deck, trying to pick out any words or phrases that would shed some light on the situation.

"Hunter!" Said a voice as the door flew open, "Get yer gear, we got a situation,"

Amy turned to the doorway, but the owner of the voice had disappeared. Amy sat up and quickly changed into her black armour, crafted from a Nargacuga. Firstly, she pulled on the tight top, which exposed her shoulders and stomach, then the black furry miniskirt. She then pulled the boots on, the black fur covering her shins and calves, whilst a long black scaly spike extended upwards, ending in a slightly rounded spike, almost level with her mid-thighs. Finally, she attached the gauntlets, crafted with the same black scales as the boots, but lacking the fur, each gauntlet covered her forearm, with a spike extending from each elbow. She looked at herself in the grimy mirror in the room, her armour allowed little coverage, which Amy didn't mind, as it allowed her more freedom for movement, she preferred to dodge an attack than to withstand it. With this in mind, she grabbed the long black furry coat that was crafted with the armour, more to deter any comments than for protection. She grabbed her longsword on the way out of the door and hastily fastened it to her back.

On the deck, a mixture of panic and urgency was in the air, sailors rushed around, trying to do twice as many chores in half the time they would normally, the fishermen and tradesmen hauled in their lines as fast as they could, all around her was people rushing, shouting and pointing, and each person had a look of fear in their faces.

"Serg, what's going on?" Amy asked the Captain as she ran to the helm.

"Winky though' he saw somethin', somethin' big, way out to sea, and the Ludroth have all gone, so somethin's not right," The Captain said, his eyes darting around the expanse of water surrounding the ship.

"Cap'n!" Shouted a rugged voice from somewhere in the ship's rigging, "We got summats, way off starb'rd!"

Amy looked over to the horizon, and sure enough, a large, spiked tail was disappearing below the surface of the water.

"It's gerrin' closer, Cap'n!" Shouted the voice. "It's headed straight for us!"

Amy ran to the railing of the ship, focusing intently on the water, searching for any shred of evidence to support or dismiss the claim of the unseen sailor. It took a while for Amy to realise it, but a small swell of water was approaching the ship quickly, growing steadily as it did so.

"Er, Captain," Amy said nervously, "I think he might be right."

"Oh shi-" Serg said, watching the swell get closer, "Shit! Prepare for impact!"

The warning was called too late, the ship rocked violently as something large scraped across the hull, and muffled sounds of wood splintering could be heard over the screams of terror. Amy clung to the railing like a Melynx in a storm, desperately trying not to fall overboard, and breathed a sigh of relief when the rocking calmed slightly. She looked across at the Captain, who's face was losing colour as he looked around, but he soon regained his composure and stood up, performing his duties as Captain.

"Roy, get below deck, I want a damage report and a casualty report, get everyone down there up here, now! Jeffer, get the cannons loaded, there's Moga, way off in the distance, we're gonna fire some shots, get their attention-"

"Cap'n," One of Yukko's fisher's interrupted.

"What is it, man? Can't you see I'm busy here?" Serg snapped irritably.

"It's Yukko, Cap'n, she fell overboard." The fisherman replied.

"Well for the Elder's sake man, get her out. Hunter," He said, turning to Amy, "Go help this dungpile; he's got about as much common sense as the bottom of my boot."

Amy nodded and took off down the short flight of stairs to the bow of the ship, where Yukko was splashing around, obviously struggling to keep her head above the water.

"Rope, get me a rope!" Amy said to the slow-witted fisher.

Just as the fisher turned around, a low rumbling sound could be heard, from what sounded like deep underwater. Another wave of panic gripped everyone on the deck of the ship. Amy quickly turned and grabbed a length of rope; the fisherman seemed to think running to the back of the boat screaming was more important. The Huntress threw the rope over the boat and looked over, ready to haul Yukko back on board. She wasn't there. Confused, Amy looked around, down the starboard side of the ship, and for some reason, way out on the horizon, and everywhere in between. She slowly walked back to the helm; the look on her face wasn't too dissimilar to that of someone who had lost a boot, not a person.

"Hunter, where's Yukko?" Serg's voice brought her back to reality.

"I don't know, she's gone." Amy said with a hint of amazement.

"Oh, marvellous!" Serg shouted angrily, "That means the damned thing is still around! People, stations! Jeffer! Where are my cannons?"

"There's no powder, Cap'n." Jeffer replied.

"Cap'n," Roy said as he hurried to the helm, "Damage is bad, sir, real bad. I wouldn' give it too long 'fore we star' goin' down. Also, I couldn' find anyone, Chef's missin', Lyra's missin', this is star'in' to get real hairy, sir."

"Ya' think?" Serg shouted, "Now listen up, everyone tha' can hear me. There's gotta be some powder left on thi-"

He was cut off by the sound of a huge splash. In perfect synchronisation, every pair of eyes on the deck turned to the bow, where through the sails, Amy could see a mass of blue scales propel itself out of the water, until the tail she saw earlier just peeked above the surface. Every face looked up as they realised that this mass of scales would have to come back down. The thick tail collided with the bow, crushing the wood that made up the deck. The huge body of the creature fell towards the helm, toppling the mast and the sails, causing splinters to rain down on the Huntress and the sailors. Amy quickly moved the railing she had clutched earlier, hoping she would have the same luck as the leviathan destroyed the ship; its body disappeared through the wreckage and below the surface of the water. She closed her eyes as she felt the beast impact with the rest of the ship, she felt the force leave her with nothing sturdy beneath her feet and the wind in her ear, and suddenly she splashed into the cool waters of the sea. The Huntress pulled herself aboard a floating piece of the hull, and observed the wreckage before her.

The ship was completely destroyed, the largest part was probably the piece that she was floating on, splinters, broken planks, a warped piece of the mast with torn sails, and the odd barrel were floating, with the entire crew floating lifelessly in the calm sea. She spotted Serg, also clinging to driftwood, his eyes were closed but she could tell he was breathing by the frantic rise and fall of his back.

"Serg! Serg!" She called out.

The Captain opened his eyes and looked at her, he was bleeding slightly from his head.

"Serg, what are we going to do?" She asked.

"Stay on there, hunter, Moga needs you," He said, an odd look suddenly taking over his face.

"What about you, you can get another ship, another crew," Amy said, gripping her driftwood. "I'm coming to get you."

"No!" Serg shouted, "The Ludroth will be back soon, your best chance is to stay on there, it won't be long before the ships from Moga arri-"

The Captain was cut off as he was dragged below the surface of the water. Amy stood up and looked into the water. All around here, black shapes about three metres long where quickly swimming around her, and every so often one of the bodies would disappear. She sat back down on the driftwood, curling up as she wondered whether the Ludroth would leave once they'd had their fill of the survivors.

Amy woke up laid on her side, curled up on the floating wreckage, one hand under her face, the other tucked between the buttons of her coat for warmth. She sat up and looked around. The sun was setting, the sea looked like a million little gems as it reflect the sky's slow gradient from a bright, dazzling orange to a calm, deep blue. Among the darker area of the sky the first stars were making themselves visible, staring down at the world as it slept. She looked towards the island in the distance, a small mountain rose from the middle of it, silhouetted against the backdrop of the setting sun. In front of it, a dark shape was moving towards Amy.

'A ship!' She thought, 'I wonder if they'll let me have a few days off after this.'

She strained her eyes into the darkness, the ship was a lot closer than she had presumed.

"Hey!" The woman shouted at the top of her lungs, "Hey, over here!"

A bright white light quickly shot into the air, illuminating the site of the wreckage. The boat was long and thin, with a large sail. Around seven people were visible on it, it was clearly a fishing crew, as large nets hung over each side. Along the hull, above the water, strange symbols were painted, along with a red spear. The boat turned towards the hunter, and it slowly crept alongside her small floating sanctuary. She leapt to the side of the boat, taking the arm that was offered to her and hauled herself up.

"Welcome aboard the Redspear," The man said cheerfully, "Next stop, Moga village."


End file.
